Neon The Ninja: Activity Book For Children Who Struggle With Sleep and Nightmares by Dr. Karen Treisman

This book is immediately likable because of Neon, the lovable and trustworthy main character who embodies a heroic persona to bring children struggling with sleep and nightmares a sense of control. Neon is highly engaging and interactive and allows children to feel empowered to be their own super inner-ninja. Neon is the story of a superhero who is emboldened with the power to rid fear, worry and anxiety. This story/activity book is a treasure box of shareable applied practices such as coloring pages, worksheets, art activities, breathing exercises and sentence completion activities. The actives are all very creative and reflective.
Dr. Treisman on accessible creative trauma informed practices for and about children are highly engaging and accessible. I highly recommend this book.
¡Olé Namaste! Eve Costarelli

The Mindfulness Skills Activity Book For Children by Chris Willard, PsyD and Mitch Abblett, PhD. (Illustrations by Kimberly Hermesch, M.Ed.; PESI Publishing and Media)

This book is full of fabulous activities that help connect social emotional learning to mindfulness concepts. I have found it immediately applicable and have already used a number of its offerings: Focus Mountain, Square Fence Breathing, SLOW Stream Floating and Fave Flames, to name a few. I have the awesome opportunity of bringing mindful concepts into school communities, K-12, both in classrooms and with professional development, and it is wonderful to have such a great resource to integrate into my programming. I highly recommend this book. The activities are engaging and accessible and they offer a great jumping off point to dig deeper.

¡Olé Namaste! Eve Costarelli

Thank you to Chris Willard for sending me this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Truly one of the best things about this book, Breath Friends Forever: A Mindfulness Book for Kids by Kids, and its predecessor, Master of Mindfulness: How to Be Your Own Superhero in Times of Stress, is that it is truly for kids by kids. The voices are clear and strong and young. This simple, sweet story, illustrated with a creative collage of cartoon characters and real life photos, offers various ways to remind us to practice mindfulness whenever needed. The hand gestures, the breathing, the getting in touch with inner peace all combine to offer easy-to-follow instructions for calming down during times of big emotions. The nicely written story offers good factual data on how deep breathing affects and effects the body, mind and energy. This mid-grade book respects the curiosity and personage of the older child. The main message is that a friend is the greatest gift: both to give and to receive.

This is a fabulous authentically voiced mindfulness book for mid-grades. I highly recommend this book. It should be in homes, libraries, schools, therapist offices etc. It is not only a fun, mindful story, but it also serve an important purpose as a book for children to help bolster their self-control, inner peace and resiliency.

Eve Costarelli

Thank you to Laurie Grossman for sending me this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

As part of Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 (1/25/19) I am reviewing the wonderful new title Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs by Susan Schaefer Bernardo. The sweet dialogue, encased in calming rhythms, delivers the important message that love is forever. I was immediately drawn to the fact that this story, although seemingly about people who are separated by physical distance, also touches on the reality of a more permanent separation. This book does not make you feel sad; it just allows the embrace of love to be felt, no matter the permanence of the separation. I love this book. It should be in homes, libraries, schools, therapist offices etc. It is not only a beautiful bedtime story for all children, but it also serve an important purpose as a therapeutic book for children coping with grief, anxiety or loss.

The illustrations by Courtenay Fletcher are sweet and connect to the story perfectly. I love the diverse sampling of characters and how they show simple ways that love is always present, even when a person is not present.

¡Olé Namaste! Eve Costarelli

Thank you to Susan Schaefer Bernardo for sending me this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

For more information about accessible mindfulness/yoga/dance, please visit alwaysbedancing.com

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 (1/25/19) is in its 6th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.

MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Medallion Sponsors on board!

We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.

TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Make A Way Media: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/25/19 at 9:00pm.E.S.T. TONS of prizes and book bundles will be given away during the party. GO HERE for more details.

Who doesn’t love Peppa? She is a sweet and caring pink piglet who is constantly surrounded by a menagerie of diverse animal friends and family members who show us a slice of life with humor, empathy and appreciation for the small things.

In Peppa Pig and the Career Day, the adult’s in the neighborhood come to school to share about their careers, ranging from everyday workers to artists to specialists, and there is even a sea captain (who everyone needs in their neighborhood!). The wide variety of jobs and careers offer a great outlay of possible aspirations for kids to explore in creative play and then possible what they might become as they grow older.

In Peppa Pig and the Silly Sniffles, offers a sneak peak into the funny ways that kids play and how easily they switch between creative play scenarios. Here they enact a scene when one of the friends is sick and has to go to the doctor’s office and they discover, even though they cannot cure the sniffles, they can make their friend feel much better just by being good friends.

Both books come with a awesome coloring poster that is hidden on the back of the book jacket.

These are lovely hardcover books and will make great gifts this holidays season! I know my granddaughter is going to love them! I highly recommend Peppa Pig: the stories offer great diversity in character and educate about self-esteem, empathy, compassion and acceptance. A wonderful entry into the beauty of all the varied people in this world! They belong in every preschool, home and library! Hooray for Peppa! She’s awesome!

¡Olé Namaste! Eve Costarelli

Thank you to Candlewick Press for sending me these books. All opinions expressed are my own.